Biology

Physiology

Kabuto's four insect-like legs have vanished and two long legs with two toes each stand in their place. Two long sharp claws (or sickles) extend from Kabutops's exoskeleton and several plates close the opening that used to be there. There are six hard spikes going down from the back of its neck, three on each side that lead down towards the beginning of its tail. Its head is covered in a rock-hard, semicircle-shaped armor. A stiff, brown tail protrudes from its back. Its gills have begun to change as it adapts to land.

Gender differences

None.

Special abilities

Kabutops's sleek body enables it to swim faster by tucking in its limbs, folding up its claw-like sickles and wiggling. In battle, Kabutops uses its impressive scythes for offensive attacks. As a result, Kabutops is able to wield a variety of claw-based moves such as Night Slash, X-Scissor and Slash. In addition to this physical means of attacking, Kabutops gains access to health stealing moves such as Mega Drain and Giga Drain. Since Kabutops is now fully evolved, it is capable of learning two powerful moves: Hyper Beam and Giga Impact.

Behavior

Kabutops is a fierce prehistoric predator. Adaptations in its body permit it to lead a more terrestrial lifestyle than its predecessors. It is also very adaptive as shown when its prey started living on land and Kabutops adapted to living on land as well.

Habitat

The exact habitat of Kabuto is unknown, but so far Dome Fossils are found in all regions but Hoenn. Other facts would leave one to believe that Kabutops and Kabuto may have lived in the sea and in caves, although Kabutops could walk ashore on its newly developed legs.

Major appearances

Giant Kabutops also appeared in Pokémon Heroes. Oakley used ancient DNA to resurrect a Kabutops and an Aerodactyl to chase after Ash and Latias. In the English dub, they were once used by an evil Pokémon Trainer to torment the civilians of Alto Mare, but were drowned when a Latios brought water to the city. They have blank, yellow-tinted eyes with no pupils and are lined with a thick black outline.

Pokédex entries

Omanyte and Omastar, Kabuto and Kabutops. It is believed these Pokémon became extinct tens of thousands of years ago. The details of their behavior are shrouded in mystery. Though some have speculated that they may still exist, none of these Pokémon have ever been seen alive.

This concludes the entries from the original series.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

In Volume 13, Brock possesses a Kabutops in his team. He explains that he met Kabutops at the Pewter Museum when Pewter City was invaded during the Elite Four saga, and has since then become a powerful fighter employing ancient attacks.

Kabutops swam underwater to hunt for its prey in ancient times. The Pokémon was apparently evolving from being a water-dweller to living on land as evident from the beginnings of change in its gills and legs.

Origin

Similarly to how Kabuto is based on horseshoe crabs, it resembles eurypterids, prehistoric arthropods which hunted in seas and rivers and are believed to have been related to modern horseshoe crabs. The large head is also identical to the cephlon in trilobites and the spines down the back resemble thoracic sections in trilobites, though the scythes and predatory nature much more closely resemble eurypterids. Because of these cross-similarities, it may also be based on the Cheirurus genus of trilobites.

Name origin

Kabutops derives from both 兜 kabuto (helmet) and 兜蟹 kabutogani (horseshoe crab). Tops might refer to the living fossil triops or that its helmet is now on the top of its head and no longer covers its whole body.